NORTH AMERICAN MALTING BARLEY TRADE Differences in Quality and Marketing Costs

Differences between U.S. and Canadian marketing policies in malting barley have been identified as potential sources of trade distortions. Most important are issues related to quality control, yield differentials between feed and malting varieties, and differences in handling costs. This study analyzes effects of changes in selected marketing policies on trade flows and prices in the North American malting barley sector using a mathematical programming model. Simulation results illustrate impacts of relaxed variety release requirements, increased selection rates for malting barley, reduced Canadian handling costs and the effect of increased Canadian exports of malting barley to offshore markets. The results quantify effects of these strategic issues on both the United States and Canadian barley sectors.     

Stock measurement and regeneration policy approaches to ‘hardcore’ brownfield sites: England and Japan compared

This paper discusses key contextual differences and similarities in a comparative study on brownfield regeneration in England and Japan. Over the last decade, the regeneration of large-scale ‘flagship’ projects has been a primary focus in England, and previous research has discussed policy issues and key barriers at these sites. However, further research is required to explore specific barriers associated with problematic ‘hardcore’ sites suffering from long-term dereliction due to site-specific obstacles such as contamination and fragmented ownership. In comparison with England, brownfield regeneration is a relatively new urban agenda in Japan. Japan has less experience in terms of promoting redevelopment of brownfield sites at national level and the specific issues of ‘hardcore’ sites have been under-researched. The paper reviews and highlights important issues in comparing the definitions, national policy frameworks and the current stock of brownfields.     

土地流转背景下农户经营规模与土地生产率关系再审视——来自固定粮农和地块的证据

农户经营规模和土地生产率关系是发展经济学领域的经典议题之一。本文在土地流转加速发展的背景下讨论了我国农户经营规模扩大对土地生产率的影响以及测量两者之间关系面临的种种干扰。除了农户规模本身的作用外,理论和实证检验均表明存在土地流转市场时不同规模农户在土地生产率上的差异还可能源于农户和土地的异质性,譬如土地更多流向经营能力强的农户、流转多劣地等等。基于固定农户的固定地块数据可以有效控制异质性的实证策略,本文利用4个省两期跟踪调查数据对两者关系进行了再检验。研究发现,来自固定农户固定地块的证据表明农户土地经营规模扩大并不会影响粮食单产,而不控制固定地块时往往会得到两者负相关的伪结论,并且仅控制固定农户时上述伪结论更为明显。这一结果意味着不必担心规模经营会威胁粮食供给。     

Farmers' health and agricultural productivity

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous productive sectors around the world. Most previous studies have focused on health issues of farmers in developing countries, while little attention has been paid to farmers' health problems in developed countries. The present study assesses the effect of farmers' health conditions on agricultural productivity in Norway. Employing stochastic frontier regression techniques, we conclude that differences in farmers' health help to explain the variance in agricultural production efficiency.     

The Cadastral triangular model

Successful economies rely on effective land administration systems. A key contributor to land administration is the cadastral system and its support for the ongoing definition of boundaries that support secure property rights and effective land management.Cadastral systems are complex and typically have significant differences in legislation, regulation and survey practices between jurisdictions. And yet the high-level objectives of a cadastral system tend to be essentially the same the world over. Comparisons of cadastral systems in different jurisdictions can easily become focused on the technical, legal, or implementation differences. This can obscure commonalities and opportunities to develop common strategies for the efficient maintenance and development of cadastral systems.Changes in technology have significantly altered the way that cadastral boundaries can be marked and located in the real world and then represented or visualised on maps or plans and in databases. The rate of take up of these technologies, and the form of that take up, varies between jurisdictions.A conceptual model to explore the complex relationships between different representations of cadastral boundaries has been developed. This model, which has broad application, is known as the Cadastral Triangular Model (CTM). The CTM is a valuable tool to explore and resolve complex issues facing cadastral systems, for example proposals for the evolution of 3D cadastres. This paper describes the CTM, how it can be used and identifies further applications of this model to address contemporary issues confronting cadastral authorities.     

Comment on sustainability and innovation in staple crop production in the US Midwest

This comment highlight issues when comparing genetically modified (GM) crops to non-GM ones across countries. Ignoring structural differences between agricultural sectors and assuming common yield trajectories before the time of introduction of GM crops results on misestimating the effect of GM varieties. Further data collection and analyses should guide policy-makers to encourage diverse approaches to agriculture, rather than excluding specific technologies (like GM crops) from the onset.     

Differences in Consumer Abstraction Levels as a Function of Risk Perception

This study investigates factors affecting consumer purchase choice (cognitive structures) in two foods with different perceived risk levels. Means‐end chain methodology is used to test for differences in the degrees of abstraction and complexity in the purchase decision process for each product. The results reveal significant differences, with more food safety issues coming into play in the case of the product associated with higher perceived risk in the past. This might suggest a non‐temporal effect on consumers’ level of risk perception in food products, with important implications for crisis management. Furthermore, logit models estimated to investigate the health impact of foods show that age and income have played a role in turning this credence attribute into a key element of consumer choice.     

Do ‘foreigners’ pay more? The effects of investor type and nationality on office transaction prices in New York City

Are commercial real estate prices in metropolitan New York affected by the type or nationality of the investors involved in a transaction? Previous research has highlighted differences in pricing between in-state and out-of-state investors and between different types of investors, but there are few extant studies that consider the influence of nationality on pricing at a micro-level. Foreign investors might pay more than domestic investors for commercial real estate assets because of a lack of information or experience in the market concerned. However, they might use local partners or brokers to mitigate such problems. To explore these issues, we use data provided by Real Capital Analytics on over 3000 office transactions in the New York metro area from 2001 to 2015. We use hedonic regression techniques and propensity score matching to examine whether pricing differs across investor groups after controlling for asset attributes. We find that foreign investors pay more than domestic investors at acquisition, but receive more when selling assets. Tests suggest that it is unmeasured aspects of quality that explain any apparent overpayment for offices in this location, not information issues.     

Economic indicators of sustainable forest management: theory versus practice

There appears to be a divergence between the conceptual literature in economics on forest sustainability indicators and the practical literature on economic indicators of sustainable forest management. The former focuses on forest resource accounts and issues related to measurement of integrated natural or forest capital accounts. The latter includes some elements of capital accounts but also contains a variety of other community level economic activity indicators. The divergence between these two bodies of literature is evaluated in this paper. Some explanations for the differences are offered as are some suggestions for improvement and investigation in the area of economic sustainability indicators.     

Household food consumption in Turkey: a reply

We reply to the Comment by Drichoutis et al. regarding somemethodological and estimation issues arising from our paper.In particular, we compare the elasticities reported in the originalpaper with those obtained using estimation procedures suggestedby Drichoutis et al. We find that the differences are very small.     

Editorial

Summary

The 1980s in France have seen a growing concern with the phenomenon of ’les friches industrielles’: derelict industrial land. The French have come late to a national recognition of this problem and in some way this is reflected in their analysis of the issues and their policies when contrasted with British experience. This article notes differences in the amount and types of dereliction apparent in France and Britain; discusses possible reasons for these differences; considers some aspects of French policy responses and concludes with possible lessons for British policymakers.     

Economic Perspectives in Agricultural Systems Analysis

The paper highlights the great diversity of economic research on agricultural systems, through the presentation of selected approaches: modern farm management, farming systems research, agricultural household economics, French Africanist rural economics, and behavioral and multidisciplinary systems studies. Major differences among these studies are highlighted, in terms of research aims, organization and issues, type of 'systemic' approach followed, theoretical framework, use of formal modeling, and the role of fieldwork. Trends in popularity of the different research types are discussed. The authors recommend integrating an institutional perspective in economic research on agricultural systems and broadening the research agenda.     

Technical efficiency in paddy farms of Tamil Nadu: an analysis based on farm size and ecological zone

Despite the wider application of efficiency analysis in Indian agriculture, little has been done on the investigation of intra and interecological variations, size differences and their interactions. However, ecological issues have paramount implications for the low-input sustainable agricultural production. Furthermore, due to the various causes of efficiency, the age-old size-based debate on efficiency differences is not yet resolved. The present study examines the level of technical efficiency across ecological zones and farm size groups in paddy farms of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The study showed that 90% of the variation in output among paddy (IR-20) farms in the state is due to differences in technical efficiency. Land, animal power and fertilisers have significant influence on the level of paddy production. Varying from 0.59 to 0.97, the mean technical efficiency was found to be 0.83. The use of F-test in two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and censored regression (Tobit model), with dummies for ecological zones, farm size groups and their interactions, has shown that, at mean level, the level of technical efficiency among paddy farms of the state differs significantly across agro-ecological zones and size groups as well, The study further indicated that small-sized paddy farms in zone II and medium-sized paddy farms in zone III are represented by ecologically size-biased production techniques; thus achieving higher technical efficiency.     

Contrasting the attitudes of farmers and the general public regarding the ‘multifunctional’ role of the agricultural sector

Using separate nationally representative surveys, this study compared the views and perspectives of farmers towards agricultural related conservation issues with that of the general public. Results suggest that both the general public and farmers expressed similar levels of concern regarding the environment as a whole. This is an encouraging sign when it comes to environmental protection, as it indicates a certain level of agreement between farmers as the group whose activities largely shape the quality of the rural environment, with the views of the general public who are the major consumers of landscape related environmental public goods. The analysis did, however, reveal important differences in attitudes in relation to certain environmental issues such as the relative importance of maintaining wildlife and habitats and having wild flora and fauna in the countryside. These activities could be seen as in conflict with farmers’ productivist attitudes. We found no significant difference in environmental attitudes between farmers who have participated in voluntary agri-environmental schemes and those who did not. Results also suggest that there is significant heterogeneity in public attitudes towards environmental issues. Specifically, age, income, place of residence and presence of children were all significantly associated with environmental preferences. The study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the different views and perspectives of farmers and the general public in formulating policy aimed at providing an optimal mix of agricultural related environmental public goods and services.     

Uneven growth of urban clusters in megaregions and its policy implications for new urbanization in China

Megaregions have become the principal geographic units for countries to participate in the global economy, which is often a composite of numerous urban clusters which are distributed in different cities. In China, a megaregion is regarded as a key urbanization platform, according to the National Plan on New Urbanization published in 2014. In this context, it is imperative to understand the spatial patterns of and the changes occurring in megaregions. For instance, what are the universal rules or differences related to urban cluster growth between different megaregions in the process of rapid urbanization, and are there differences in the growth of urban clusters with different sizes? Focusing on these issues, this study discusses the uneven growth of clusters in five of the largest megaregions in China using the rank-size rule, based on land-cover data interpreted from time-series satellite imagery during the period 1990–2010. The results show that the cluster size distribution of each of these megaregions obeyed the rank-size rule, and the size distribution of the clusters became more uneven and was tilted toward larger clusters between 1990 and 2010. These factors should be considered in the implementation of the National Plan on New Urbanization in China and the designation of urban macro planning and urban layout optimization in other countries those are experiencing rapid urbanization.     

2013年土地科学研究重点进展评述及2014年展望 ——2013年中国土地科学研究项目资助情况分析报告

研究目的：依据《2013年土地科学研究重点进展评述及2014年展望》所引用的中文参考文献,梳理国内重点研究进展项目的成果来源及特点,分析国内土地科学研究的学科基础,总结国内土地科学各研究方向的平均成果周期;结合2013年国家自然科学基金、国家社会科学基金、教育部人文社科基金、国土部公益性行业科研专项的新立项目,分析各项基金及科技项目对中国土地科学研究的资助偏好,展望未来土地科学研究热点。研究方法：文献检索法。研究结论：各省部级以上基金和科技项目的资助偏好存在一定差异。土地科学研究未来的热点主要集中在优化土地空间格局、完善土地管理制度、重视土地质量提升等方面。     

The contribution of genetics to milk composition: evidence from Spain

This article focuses on the role that genetic progress may play in improving milk quality. Despite important genetic advances in dairy production, the absence of genetic records in farm management databases has precluded empirical production models from explicitly accounting for differences in genetics across herds. The influence of genetics on milk composition is analyzed by splitting milk production into protein, fat, and other components. The article explores some modeling issues associated with the specification of the effect of genetics in this multi‐output technology framework. In particular, genetic indexes are considered as allocable inputs and the remaining inputs as nonallocable. Our results show that genetics have a significant impact on milk composition. In particular, we find that farmers’ income increases by 6.6% when genetic indexes are augmented by one sample standard deviation.     

对东北国有林区森林资源产权及其改革的调查与思考(续)

通过对东北国有林区的调查,分析了黑龙江省国有林区管理体制存在的政企合一、高度集权、森林资源权属不清、缺乏激励和约束、监督机制不灵等问题及其后果;对比了黑龙江与吉林两省在管理体制与机制上的同异利弊,吉林省森林资源管理和企业运营分离,有可能形成一个较有效的监督机制,但制约其发展的因素还未从根本上解决;指出桃山林业局国有森林资源产权流转的改革,并未解决国有林的收益权和处置权这一产权核心问题。从彻底明晰产权、政企分开、确定发展战略、发挥自己优势等方面提出了改革建议,并提出需研究的6个问题。     

对东北国有林区森林资源产权及其改革的调查与思考

通过对东北国有林区的调查,分析了黑龙江省国有林区管理体制存在的政企合一、高度集权、森林资源权属不清、缺乏激励和约束、监督机制不灵等问题及其后果;对比了黑龙江与吉林两省在管理体制与机制上的同异利弊,吉林省森林资源管理和企业运营分离,有可能形成一个较有效的监督机制,但制约其发展的因素还未从根本上解决;指出桃山林业局国有森林资源产权流转的改革,并未解决国有林的收益权和处置权这一产权核心问题。从彻底明晰产权、政企分开、确定发展战略、发挥自己优势等方面提出了改革建议,并提出需研究的6个问题。     

Directions in Rural Development Policy – Lessons from Both Sides of the AtlanticRichtlinien für die ländliche Entwicklungspolitik – Beispiele von diesseits und jenseits des AtlantiksLes orientations de la politique de développement rural – Enseignements en provenance des deux côtés de l’Atlantique

Directions in Rural Development Policy – Lessons from Both Sides of the Atlantic A workshop comparing rural development policies in Europe and the US found differences in the social values that shape them. These include different attachments to place, concerns with lagging regions, and interests in the assessment of public interventions. There is also a difference in coverage. In the EU environmental and landscape issues form part of the CAP’s Rural Development Pillar, using agriculture as an instrument, whereas in the US these are handled by other policies, some of which can claim deeper historical roots. In the context of rural development policy, the EU attaches intrinsic value to the environment, while in the US the focus is more on economic spin-offs from environmental quality. There are also differences in governance; a complete US view requires taking in Federal, State and local initiatives whereas in the EU a more organised framework is apparent. Nevertheless, when policy is viewed from a bottom-up perspective many common features are found. Improving human and social capital and infrastructure are key factors to stimulating economic development on both sides of the Atlantic, though only some of these drivers form part of the CAP’s Pillar II. While in the EU the role of rural development is set to expand, this is far less certain in the US where the emphasis on agricultural support is likely to continue to dominate the political agenda.